This blog is divided into two sections. The first deals with experiences in rescue/placement of homeless cats and dogs. The latter focuses on the treatment of wildlife in our city parks, specifically, Canada geese. These birds have recently been targeted by government officials for a 2/3rds "reduction" in population. Thousands have been cruelly rounded up and gassed in NY over the past several years. This is an issue that cries out for address and is covered substantially in this blog.

About Me

"Enter all the information about yourself that you want others to know."
What do I want others to know about me? Interesting question.
The answer will be less complex and likely to be discovered in the
context of the blog.
One's self is found in one's writing and doings in life (I suppose) as
opposed to what one says about one's self.
For now (9-08) simply to update the picture. -- My beautiful dogs,
Tina, Chance and me.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

"Might, May and Could" -- Lessons in (Wildlife) Intolerance

Today our wildlife lessons are in the use of terms like "might, may or could" to generate fear and demonize whatever we deem to be nuisance or inconvenience.

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The first lesson comes from Aurora, Illinois where a church that apparently owns more than 70 acres of property is complaining about the mostly migratory Canada geese that roost at an icy lake there this time of year.

The geese "squawk" when they're flying over and according to the pastor, they "occasionally chase children." (Something I personally have never seen despite observing Canada geese in Central Park for more than five years.)

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Of course one is hard pressed to see any children in the video of an icy lake and mostly snow covered fields. Generally "soccer and baseball" are played in the summer.

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The pastor goes on to say that he "may eradicate the problem here," but it will go somewhere else in what seems blatant attempt to instill fear in neighbors that they will soon be "invaded" by geese.

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But in an outdoors (hunting) article and video out today, it is clear that the geese moving around Illinois now are migratory and in large part "attracted" by a refuge that encourages a large goose population for hunters to shoot at:

As there was "no room at the inn" for the Christ child, there is apparently no room on church grounds for wildlife more than 2,000 years later.

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Little has changed.

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In the more typical use of "might, may and coulds" to rationalize the deliberate killing (or "culling") of animals, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced a plan to "eliminate" free-roaming mute swans in New York State by the year 2025: